Future looks bright for FX’s ‘Sunny’

13-seg order reps a vote of confidence for FX skein

FX has renewed frosh comedy “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” but has decided against another helping of “Starved.”

Cabler has greenlit 13 new episodes of “Sunny,” an offbeat half-hour about the misadventures of four friends who own a bar. Order reps a vote of confidence for the critically lauded laffer, which failed to attract a large following during its seven-episode run.

Despite the positive reviews, show had a tough time attracting a loyal following during the summer. That’s partially because FX relocated the skein after just two episodes had aired, after it was deemed incompatible with its “Starved” lead-in. First season averaged 1.14 million total viewers — slightly below the FX’s summer primetime average (1.17 million) — but execs say they’re pleased with the show’s high concentration of adults 18-49.

Net prexy-G.M. John Landgraf said next time, “Sunny” would get a much stronger push.

“We didn’t have the largest marketing budget for the comedies to begin with, and what we had, we split between two shows,” Landgraf said. “In that respect, ‘Sunny’ didn’t get its own real launch. But we love the show and think it’s only going to get better.”

Creator-exec producer Rob McElhenney said the upcoming season will introduce some new characters, including Charlie’s dad, who they will begin casting for shortly.

“Our hope is that the new season will be just as disturbing as the first,” he said. “We’ve got double the number of episodes to work with this time, and the truth is I’ve been bored out of my mind (since we wrapped). I just can’t wait to get started.”

As for “Starved,” a comedy about friends with eating disorders, Landgraf said dropping the show was an economic decision. “The show had a lot of fans, so it was tough to choose. Ultimately, we felt that we’re just not in a position to spread our resources. We launched our dramas one at a time, and launching two like we did this summer just didn’t work out as well.” Show averaged 1.05 million total viewers. Eric Schaeffer and Dan Pasternack exec produced.